| Subject: | Oil change |
| Question: |
I have a 2001 mitsubishi montero. My wife drives the car and just recently she mentioned the oil light popped up. I told her she probobly needed oil and was prepared to take the car in the next day. That morning the car started sputtering and making loud knocking noises. When she got to the station the attendant told her there was no oil in the engine. It was bone dry. They put in three quarts of oil and my wife drove home. Shouldn't there be a service light come on prior to the engine being depleted of oil and should I be worried the engine on the car will cease? I don't see how the oil light can come on one day and the engine be shot the next. please let me know. Thanks. |
| Answer: | Joe, You're extremely lucky your car is still running. Without oil, your engine will get so hot, all your coolant will boil away, and shortly after that you could blow your head gasket and literaly melt your engine into a big block of metal. Without oil, the engine may not last more than 30 minutes or driving. The oil light that came on is the service light that is supposed to illuminate when your engine has less than 1 quart of oil in it. The "check engine light" only comes on when one of the sensors related to ignition or emmissions detects a problem. The engineers made the oil light to specifically warn the driver there is a lack of oil in the car. Your biggest concern should now be to find out where all that oil went.
Your Montero takes at least 5 quarts of oil. That's a lot of oil to just
disappear. Find out if the car is leaking or burning oil. You should check
your oil level every time you fill up at the gas station. Your owners
manual will instruct you how to check the oil level if you're not sure. |